The Ghosts of The Past
by Kc4229
Summary: Set after the events of TTWGT and after to long I finally got around to the why of what happened in the end. It'll be a roller coaster that's for sure!
1. Chapter 1

The Ghosts Of the Past

Chapter 1

 **AN: I'm sorry for taking wayyyy too long to post this, work is just killer and the overtime is slowly eating away at me. Personal problems aside this is a new(?) story and I hope you all enjoy, feel free to review and PM if you have ideas/suggestions/ or CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Blaiseingfire has helped me through every word, every chapter and every emotional spat that went into this so be sure to head over to his page and check out his works. That man is amazing and a delight, happy stories for when your down, angst for when you're just in that kind of mood and smutty for those saucy moments. On to the chapter I hope you all enjoy I look forward to hearing what you all think so dont be afraid to let me know!**

 _She carried her sister's broken and bloodied body in her arms. Never once let it go, despite being told repeatedly that she needed to rest. This was all her fault, she had made every injury, every droplet of blood pour from her young body, every broken bone, every….single….one._

There's no way she was alive, when she fought, she fought to kill. She was seeing an illusion, but the body was her sisters. She couldn't be forgiven, she couldn't go back to the life she had before, even if anyone else was foolish enough to attempt to forgive her. She'd never forgive herself. It was her duty as an older sister to protect her sibling, she failed. Not only did she fail but she was the cause that lead to her demise.

Glynda was gone, Yang saw her body and heard from General Ironwood what had happened just before Jaune and her got there. The general swore that he didn't know what happened but he didn't have her, having heard a similar report from the team who retrieved CRDL, Yang had no doubt that Glynda could be counted among the bodies.

Yang turned to watch as Winter trotted off, her arms held together behind her back in that same 'I'm better than you.' stance that Weiss always had, after recounting the details of how she took care of Emerald and broke the illusion that Yang was under. Apparently Winter had toyed with the girl, using her glyphs and knowledge of the Schnee techniques to overwhelm her and slowly pick her apart. Emerald's body was cut to ribbons, small but numerous gashes littered her body and even now she struggled to breathe, every move the girl made spewed more blood from near every wound on her body yet she still tried to utter a curse only for blood to flood her esophagus. Death by drowning in your own blood. Winter Schnee is an excellent soldier, a brilliant tactician, and kind hearted to a fault, but there are rumors of Winter having a dark and sadistic side that made even the most cold hearted and battle harden veterans freeze up in fear. It sent chills down the brawlers spine.

Jemima Arc had been found, having been separated from the general and her sister she eventually found her way by following the explosions. Jaune was filthy from the fighting and tried to console her as best he could, He couldn't know the loss of a sister but dammit he still tried. Blake and Weiss had shown up just in time to see the aftermath of the battle. They explained that right after Jaune and Yang left they all begged Ozpin and Glynda to let them go but they refused, on the way back to the dorm they hatched a plan to go anyways and tried telling Ruby that she needed to wait. Ruby's stubborn nature and speed semblance proved to much...the rest is now history.

James Ironwood wasn't as distraught as before, perhaps remembering his duty as a general of the Atlesian military he quickly cordoned off the area and had teams scavenging the remains of the crash. He walked over to Jaune and the remnants of team RWBY, informing them that they would be taken back to a properly running military facility and treated. Yang steadfastly refused to leave Ruby to anyone else but her own care.

After getting back to the military facility they tricked her into a medical tent of her own and separated her from her sister. Jaune was there to, he never left her side. No matter how much she wanted to be alone. After they released Yang they tried to imprison her for what she'd done. Attacking a hunter in training is a crime, made worse by the fact that it was done by someone of her own team. So Yang ran, she smashed everything and made a not so clean getaway. She ran as far as she could as fast as she could. Living on the run would be difficult, but it was what she deserved for what happened.

She woke up, gasping for breath and in a thin shean of cold sweat. She'd been thinking of that every day for the past ten years. As far as anyone was concerned she was dead. When she left she dropped everything and vowed to never go back. She killed her sister, failed everyone. The final battle was won due to a crash landing, not her. A wanted criminal on the run, every law enforcement agency in the entirety of all four kingdoms was after her head.

After calming her thoughts down she looked around and noticed it was the dead of night. Checking her scroll she saw it was around midnight on October 3. The moon was hanging at the top of the night sky, the only real indicator it was, in fact, nighttime. She threw the ragged blanket, that she had stolen from an out of the way house, that was her bedding for the night. Packing up her small collection of personal belongings she checked her ammo and food, low on both. She'd have to make a risky trip to try and replenish them both for at least another month. If she were lucky. A sudden rustle of a nearby bush caught her attention. The only sound that pierced the dark veil of the broken house.

"Damn, I didn't even notice the lack of sound. They're getting better." She said to herself, why? No clue but it was one way she managed to stay sane, right? Cocking an arm back she fired a round at the nearest wall, it burst into tiny pieces that peppered the three soldiers on the other side. At least that should have happened. Instead she threw her arm forward and the dreadful sound of a mechanical click resounded throughout the area. Pulling her arm back she stared at the gun barrel, empty. Of course she'd forgot to reload it, she wasn't expecting a battle!

"Now boys, I know how that looked but let's not be hasty with those tasers I know you have trained on me." She sounded much more confident than she was at the moment. She downright felt stupid for forgetting to reload her damned gun. Someone dressed in solid black stepped forward with his hands raised, his footsteps reverberating unusually loud against the concrete floor. Looking down she noticed that he had kicked off his boots, before stepping on the floor. He wanted her to see his feet. More accurately that his feet were made of metal. Her muscles clenched and an involuntary shiver ran up and down her spine. Lifting her hands ready for hand to hand she was not ready to face this man, It'd been almost ten full years. They finally got so desperate to send him?

"It's time to come home."

His voice grated on her nerves, it wasn't unpleasant. Expect for the fact she didn't deserve such kindness. Not after all that had happened, she'd caused the death of his sister as well as her own. She was not ready to deal with the bullshit, the heartache, the pain all over again!

"Your team needs you."

Tears stung her eyes at every syllable he uttered. It was all horseshit! No way that they all forgave her for the death of their leader! She couldn't face them anyways.

"Your sister ne-" He went flying through the wall as she landed a straight punch on his jaw. Fire was coming off her in waves and her crimson pupils dared anyone else to approach.

"You shut the hell up, You don't get to talk about her like she's still alive!" She was beyond pissed at this point, she was going to stop him from talking anymore. He raised himself up onto his shoulders and nodded. She felt a sharp pain in her neck and turned to look to see a silver haired middle-aged man and a platinum blonde with dark skin behind her. Of course she hadn't heard them, that's why they're the head of the unit in charge of her capture.

"Please come quietly now, no one has to get hurt." The man said.

He had no idea. She didn't want to go with anyone. She wasn't going to go with anyone!

"Don't do it!" The blonde woman practically screamed as she readied her weapon of choice.

"Too late for that." Cocking her arm back she took a swing at the man with the silver hair, only for him to easily dodge it. As expected though, her true target was the blonde. She was going to smash her smug face! Her fist connected with nothing but air as the blonde had ducked under her fist and swept her legs out from under her. Lying flat on her back was not a position she was used to in battle, feeling the rage burn up her insides she rolled back onto her feet and rush the pair again. They both skilfully dodged each one of her strikes as if she was underwater. The fire was starting to consume the wooden walls of the house the more pissed she got, soon someone would come to investigate the raging inferno.

She planted her right foot to go for another right hook only for her legs to turn to jelly. Her anger subsided right away as she found she couldn't stand, let alone fight or see clearly. Fighting the feeling of weakness that only seemed to grow stronger the more she tried to fight she finally collapsed on the floor. With her vision fading fast she heard a new arrival, a young woman. She sounded downright pissed at her treatment? Who would even care how she was treated? Suddenly a blurry face filled her vision, at least she guessed it was a face. Her vision was all but gone but she could she the woman's lips moving but hear nothing.

((linebreak))

"Her treatment was totally uncalled for!" A sharp female voice filled the room, becoming clearer with each passing second.

"Did you forgot what she did to you?" The same voice from last night, belonging to the man with silver hair. His voice still emotionless as before, was he bored?

"No, I'll never forget. But I have forgiven! Take off those restraints, she's a human being not a deranged psychopath!" The strange woman screeched, her voice was shrill and everywhere, her voice clearly directed at the man.

"With power like hers, and considering how long she's been on the run along with how many people she herself has hospitalized. We're not taking chances." He finished with a sigh, was it exasperation or worry?

"Let her go or I'll get him down here to fix this!" Again, defending her. Like she deserved such treatment.

"It's under his orders that she's restrained."

The sudden quietness of the woman was disturbing. Clearly someone very high up could silence her with just his ideas? Who exactly was she? Why did she try defending her? She had so many questions!

After several minutes of silence filling the room she tugging her arms ever so slightly she confirmed that they were, in fact, restrained. Her eyes remained closed and her breathing even, though she suspected they knew by now she was awake. After another ten minutes of silence she peeked an eye open to see an empty room. Shifting her head around she didn't find a single camera, recording device or anything else that might even look like it was monitoring her. The room was stark white with no windows, no visible door line, no vents, and no cracks from the building material. Very impressive that they'd go this far just for her.

Whirring and a mechanical click later and the restraints on her wrists and ankles were undone. Pulling her arms back she sat up and rubbing the sore skin, noticing that she was dressed in plain white t-shirt and loose pants with a drawstring. Swinging her legs off the side of the table she tested her legs out. Whatever drug they put into her seemed to wear off in her sleep. She paced around, looking for anything. A flaw in the seamless corners, a mistake in the design, something overlooked due to budget constraints. Nothing, it was more than irritating.

Suddenly the door opened with a loud hiss. Before her, clad in the same black uniform as last night(or whenever it was) was a tall but lean masculine(man?) figure.

"Hurry up, we don't have much time before they send someone." She stood stock still and crossed her arms. He heaved a heavy sigh. "Come on, I can't force you but believe me when I say some very important people want you out of here."

At least he knew she couldn't be forced to do anything. Not seeing much in the way of other choices she wordlessly relented.

"Can you answer anything?" She asked, not in the least bit hopeful.

"Barely, go for it though." He said as they briskly walked through the hall.

"Who wants me free so badly after the powers that be went to such lengths to capture me?"

"See, that's one of the questions that I have no clue how to answer."

"Figured as much, where's my weapons?" She asked suddenly.

"Gott'm tucked away safely, we'll be there shortly if this goes well and fast enough." Continuing the journey in silence they made several impromptu stops to avoid the "random" patrols. A feeling of familiarity was creeping up on her, something just felt...right. The look of the halls, the smell of the air, the only thing that was off was the general vibe of the people. Namely the person in front of her, he was nervous as a tick. Couldn't blame him, she could take down every wall of this building if she felt like it. She occasionally looked behind her and saw a glimpse of dark red hair.

"That's strange, did you see that?" She asked a bit louder than necessary.

"Shhhh, keep your voice down. We're nowhere near where we need to be." He turned back around and quickened his pace, forcing her to follow or be left behind. Several more unanswered questions and half a dozen twists and turns later they face a vehicle garage.

"Okay, no more dodging me, where are we going?" Slightly irritated and more than ready for a fight at this point she stood her ground.

He turned his head, thankfully she couldn't see how much he was sweating from this simple mission. "I've been told-"

"Bullshit, I don't go a step further until you tell me what I wanna know."

He swallowed nervously, she'd be more than capable enough, even in her state, to take him in a fight. "Will you be happy with me telling you that it's someone who wants what's best for you?"

Not exactly happy with the answer, it seemed that was all she was getting this time. " Fine, hurry up though. I'm getting cranky."

Back to the uneasy nonaggression between the two they made there way to the far end of the garage. The lights were broken, as evidenced by the glass on the ground, and it was filled with a darkness that couldn't be pierced with eyesight at such a distance.

"This is where I let you go, there's instructions on where to go in the vehicle. I was told once you see it that you'll know who sent me."

Raising an eyebrow at all the cloak and dagger BS, the mysterious man shrugged his shoulders and hastily retreated. Shaking her head she proceeded forward, groping her way through the darkness.

 _ **POV Change**_

"Sir, I did as I was instructed, she's in the garage right now. You should be able to pull up the feed on the CCTV cameras."

"Very good, thank you for your service, however. Did you feel the need to betray that last bit of information to her?"

Suddenly nervous that he heard, he scrambled to remove his gear.

"Struggle all you like, you're dead either way, your feelings towards her led you to this."

An odorless gas had been released into his suit but no sounds could be heard as his body thrashed from lack of oxygen. Growing still, a group of five men came to clean up the body and erase any evidence of his presence.

 _ **Back to our woman stranger**_

As she got to the far corner her foot struck hard metal. Grabbing her foot and kissing it tenderly she looked at the offending piece that dared to try and hurt her, only to gasp in surprise. It was a motorcycle, but not any motorcycle. It was bulky yet gentle with its curves, built for speed over comfort, the shocks were covered by the yellow and orange body. The whole bike had been professionally cared for and kept in top condition. She knew it well, tracing her hand over it as one would an old friend from times long ago. She swung her leg over the side and found the keys in the ignition, turning the massive engine over her old friend roared to life and the peaceful quiet that permeated the garage was broken.

"Welcome back baby, I missed you Bumblebee."


	2. The Ghosts Of The Past Ch 2

The Ghost Of The Past  
Chapter 2

Yang Sped away on her motorcycle. The rush of the air beating against her skin, the heat radiating off the motor keeping her legs warm, the scream that filled the air as she blazed down the unkempt trail was like an old coat that she lost long ago. She must have been traveling for ten minutes but it seemed like a lifetime, until Bumblebee started sputtering and the controls grew hard to handle. She drifted the bike closer to the edge (if you could define an edge on a road no one traveled) until she stopped and did a thorough check of her baby.

After ten minutes of checking every nook and cranny on the thing she stood up straight and shook her head.

'It's not going to be that simple, it's just not plausible.' She walked over and looked at the fuel gauge. Bone dry, not even a drop in the reserve tank. Her shoulders rose and fell slowly but no sound could be heard, after a few minutes they began to get faster and Yang began hysterically laughing. The sound of Yangs voice filled the air louder than her bike could ever hope, eventually it died down and she began her trek towards the nearest gas station.

Yang sat on her bike eating a candy bar as the gas can pour what little contents it had into Bumblebee. With the final crunch she crushed the wrapper in her hands and shoved it into the bag on the side. Checking that the tank was full she pulled the small gas can off and set it down when all of a sudden the hair on her neck stood up straight. Calmly she stood up straight and surveyed the surrounding area. A rustle of leaves caught her attention but Yang didn't make any sudden movements.

"I was wondering when you'd catch up with me." Yang didn't face the direction of the noise, still searching the area.

"To be fair I wouldn't have if I didn't take most of the gas out." The mysterious voice said, seeming to come from different directions.

"So it's you that deserves the beating, I guess I can forgive you though. But why?" The hurt clear in Yangs voice. She knew who it was and it was a stab in the back to have this person against her.

'Damn you Ozpin. Couldn't keep my friends out of this?' Yangs fist tightened but she still didn't move an inch. "So, how are we doing this?" Yang just had to keep her talking till she could find where she was actually hidden.

"What do you mean? You're going to come back quietly and cooperatively with me and we'll sort this whole mess out."

'Fat chance of that hun. All I have to do is find you then its over.' Yang sounded more confident than she felt considering who she was up against. "Quietly and cooperatively huh? You think i'll just go that easy?" At that same time the stranger walked out of the bushes directly in front of her, putting the last piece of the puzzle together for Yang.

"Actually yes I think you will Yang, we both know you can't beat me." She said with a confidence she didn't fell at the moment.

"You see, that's where you're wrong kitty kat." Yang flipped on the high beams of Bumblebee, effectively blinding the faunus due to her night vision. At the same time she reached for her remaining gauntlet of Ember Celica hurriedly put it on and let loose a shot at Balkes feet throwing up dust and debris and knocking her back. Its was the only way Yang would get away from her as the fanus was more nimble. A resounding click filled the air as Yang tried to turn on the lights.

"I hope you weren't hoping to blind me with the high beams and use that time to get away." Blake said as she threw a battery cable before Yang and held Ember Celica in her hand.

Yang bowed her head in defeat, her one plan had failed because she overlooked the fact that Blake was the stealth of the te….former team. Dropping to her knees her shoulders sagged in defeat.

"Fine then, do what you will. Do as master says like a good little fanus slave."

"I've come to terms with who I am Yang so trying to psych me out won't work." Blake took a step towards Yang and prepared to cuff her and take her back. Yang's arm twitched and Blake stopped suddenly.

"What's wrong? Afraid of little ole defenseless me? I seriously can't do anything without Ember Celica you know that." While blake wasn't anyone's fool she was tired and irritated at having been sent to drag her friend back after working so hard to free her. So she continued towards Yang and missed the smirk that grew on her friends face. As Blake put a cuff on Yang she offered her other arm to Blake for the cuffs.

"Thank you for making this easy Yang. I don't want to do this but it's what i was told to do." Blake sighed with exhaustion finally taking hold, Yang was in custody and safe. Nothing more from her needed to be done.

"Me either Blake, I'm sorry." Twitching her arm again activated her built in Ember Celica, which she happen to find a single round for at the gas station, and fired a point blank shot at the ground. Blake and Yang both were blasted in opposite directions, Blake was dizzy from the explosion and hitting a nearby tree which knocked the breath from her lungs.

Yang picked herself up, tearing the damaged cuff off her hand she began searching for the battery cable. Finding it half buried she wiped it clean and hurriedly repair Bumblebee, Starting the bike she heard Blake groan and start to get up. Yang slowly walked over to her and tripped her back to the ground. Coughing from the impact Yang looked at her former teammate with tears blurring her vision.

"I'm sorry Blake, Maybe next time we meet I'll actually be on the same side of the chess board." Cocking her arm back and quickly punched Blake's nose and with the snap of the bone Blake passed out.

Climbing on Bumblebee, Yang revved the motor and her the high pitched whine of High Speed Patrol motorcycles. They'd be here in less than two minutes, Blake should be awake by then. Speeding off just as a flurry of red petals filled the area the newcomer starred in the direction Yang went.

"Just how long are you going to run from the truth Yang?" Turning towards Blake she began to care for her fallen comrade.

* * *

Yang had a half tank of gas, a head full of steam, and more question than she wanted to admit. She knew a few people would likely have the answers she needed. Maybe even a few to the ones she wanted. The fear of hearing something that she didn't want to know was what made her blood run cold though. Flinting through the spots she could lay low and still meet with people covertly was going quicker than she would like, there weren't many places in or out of the city. Yang slowed down near a town so as to not draw unwanted attention to her (not that her golden mane of hair or the bright yellow of Bumblebee did that).

Passing by the various shops Yang remembered some of them from years past. One shop in particular caught her attention and she pulled over and got off her bike. Walking up to it her mouth went slack as the memories came flooding back. After five minutes Yang got back on her bike and left with a determined look on her face.

* * *

The loud squad of bikes pulled over and dismounted. Their leader, a tall but muscular man, took off his helmet and looked around. Seeing the shop he briskly walked over to it and began inspecting every little detail.

"There he goes again." A newer member said. The boredom evident in his voice.

"Yeah but he only gets like this when were chasing an important perp." The man next to her said.

"Yeah, true, still don't you think this is going overboard? How important could this one be compared to who is on our most wanted list? Not many people could beat out….."

"If you two are done speculating as to why we're here and can contribute to the team that'd be great. Thanks." The tall man had somehow snuck behind them and scared them senseless.

"Sorry sir, it won't…"

"Spare me. We need to find whatever we can before the trail gets any colder than it is so move it." He walked away glaring at any passerby that dared try to talk to him.

"Boss is a bit more on edge than normal huh?" The young woman said.

"You seriously have no idea do you rook? This isn't another perp to him, she's worth risking everything as far as he is concerned." Her partner said not elaborating on anything despite her protests.

"What am I supposed to even be looking for?" She got off the bike and started looking around.

"You're not looking for anything, I'm looking for you." A pair or lilac eyes stared at her from the darkness and hands, one robotic, shot out and grabbed her while muffling her cry for help.

No one was the wiser as to what had transpired in the span of a few seconds. No one would know anything until hours later when their leader took headcount.

 _ ***15 mins later***_

"This is just great. First we get sent on perhaps the wildest of goose chases, then the fucking goose just happens to be here and kidnaps one of my guys, WHO IS A GIRL! No i'm not being sexist i'm just venting no someone please tell me you found her!" The angry in his voice wasn't directed at any one person but everyone around still scattered.

"Sir, we didn't find her but we found this piece of paper." The scared squad member nervously reported his findings to the short tempered blonde.

 _Jaune, I know it's you,_

 _You know where to find me, you just have to be brave enough to face me there. I'll be leaving in fifteen minutes. Hope you're there on time sweetie._

 _XOXO_

"Sir, what does it mean 'you know where to find me.'?" one confused squad member said.

Jaune let out a hearty sigh, "Just get back to the bikes, if i'm not back in twenty minutes go back to base got it?" He began to remove most of his protective gear.

"Sir, won't you need all that?" The man said with a bewildered expression.

"Where i'm going and who i'm seeing, it won't matter." The tall blonde took off and disappeared into the crowd, leaving behind the four remaining members standing around awkwardly.

 _ ***abandoned housing complex***_

"Alright Yang, come out so we can talk." Jaune said into the nothingness of the mysteriously deserted street.

Ten minutes past with just the wind blowing a lone tumbleweed down the sidewalk. Jaune looked to both sides but found nothing. Fearing that he had missed her he turned and started to walk away.

"So quick to give up? What happened to that young man who worked his ass off to grab my attention?" The voice echoed around the empty buildings and stopped Jaune in his tracks. The teasing in her voice evident and soothing even after all the years spent apart.

Not wanting to rise to her taunt, Jaune decided he could indulge himself at her expense.

"What happened to the beautiful woman with a quick temper who wouldn't abandon her friends for ten years? You'd never think of attacking your friends with the intent of killing them Yang Xiao Long!" Jaune stood where he was, knowing that he had earned an unforgettable ass-kicking from the brawler. 'Worth it though.' A small smirk glanced across his face. "Oh come on, why the silent treatment now? I thought we were going to talk, what do you want to talk about Yang? How low you've sunk to resort to kidnapping just to talk to people? Blake and the condition you left her in? Or perhaps the ever nagging question in the back of your mind, why did I kill…" He never finished his sentence as Yang made her presence very know as she charged him with a wild right cross and sent him flying into a building.

Yang was more than pissed, flames started creeping off her as she stalked the area towards the collapsing building. Drawing her left arm back she swung and blasted the debris away to reveal a very bloody Jaune.

"SHUT UP! SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP!"

She punctuated every syllable with a punch somewhere on his body. Blood crept out of his fresh wounds made by the metallic hand of the fiery brawler. The flames grew with every punch and the brightness was beginning to overcast the sun's rays.

After ten minutes tears fell on Jaunes face, One eye was swollen shut and several teeth were missing. Multiple cuts were actively bleeding but somehow he managed to look at Yang and see she was crying.

"Y-you don't g-get to talk about her. Y-you weren't there in her final moments. You didn't kill her!" Yang was letting her fist fall on his chest, still trying to take her frustrations out on him. Trying to sit up Jaune pushed his arm behind him only to find it broken.

"Great, arm's broke. Yang please, let's talk. You need to hear what I have to say." Jaune gasped between the bubbles of blood.

"No, no more talking Jaune. You're teammates unharmed and in the building to the left." Yang got up and started to walk away then froze in place.

Red rose petals fell around Yang as her arms were shielding her face from the onslaught of wind. After a few seconds Yang was still protecting herself when she felt a small hand on her shoulder with a firm grip. The smell of a garden surrounded her, bringing her back to times of her childhood where Summer would spend afternoons teaching Yang how to tend to the various fruits and vegetables they grew. The sweet aroma of of strawberries filled her nose from her memories until a very familiar voice drifted into her ears and brought her to her knees.

"Yang, I'm glad to see you're ok. Everybody is missing you terribly. Please come back."

Yang looked up at the person speaking and through the tears in her eyes saw red shoulder length hair and silver eyes. Then everything went black as Yang passed out.

 _ ***Atlas Military building***_

A man with a head full of silver hair and bright eyes briskly walked down the hallway towards large gaudy doors. With a wave of his hand both doors flew open in an instant. Looking up from his paperwork James Ironwood rubbed his mechanical knees to try and work out the soreness.

"Ozpin, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Going back to his paperwork with a barely hidden huff.

"You know very well what brings me here James, though you have probably filed this tidbit of information away and done for." Reaching the desk Ozpin uncharacteristically slammed his hands down and flung the paperwork everywhere to grab his old friends attention.

Looking at the recently cleaned spot on his desk James took a deep breath in and threaded his fingers.

"Please, refresh my memory my **old** friend." Placing an emphasis on the word old as he addressed his long time companion.

Taking his scathing words in stride as if they didn't affect him, Ozpin brushed off his sleeves and breathed deeply before continuing.

"I know where she is, I know what you've done to her James. Now take me to Glynda."

 **A/N: Apoligies that it took so long to put out, real life and such got in the way but those are all excuses that you don't wanna hear. The point for this is Blaiseingfire and myself have agreed to start a . Now why? well it would help us communicate better with anyone who keeps up with our stories and wants to provide feedback, we also have a discord server there available for patrons to discuss stories, ideas, criticisms and the like. The tiers are not high at all and we only charge when we publish but that is subject to change but not without warning. Under no circumstances is it an obligation it is completely voluntary! Thank you all for your continued support!**


	3. The Ghosts Of The Past Ch 3

The Ghosts Of The Past

Chapter 3

She was being taken down a long and cold featureless hallway. The metal around her wrists dug into her hands, not that she could feel anything in her hands. The mumbles surrounding her suggested she was being escorted by at least three people. Knowing who she was it was probably more, they were being smart and keeping quiet though their footfalls betrayed them. The soft clank of metal suggested weapons with lots of ammo in pouches.

Opening her eyes she was met with darkness, of course they'd blindfold her just in case. Her first thought was to break free and cause a riot but a smaller part of her brain kicked in for once and told her to let things play out. Maybe she would learn something about what these guys wanted. Another ten minutes of snide comments and the room was finally met with absolute silence, the presence of someone very prominent was crystal clear as the tension from her escort could be cut with a butter knife.

"Why is she bound like this? Remove those restraints at once and I want an explanation!" A deep and commanding voice barked orders that had one or two of the escort audibly flinch. Apparently her treatment wasn't what someone had in mind.

"Yes sir. You heard him get those things off her now!" A man to her right sounded confident on the outside but a trained ear could hear the shakiness in his voice. As the cuffs were quickly removed by one person another got started on her blindfold and other restraints that kept her secured to whatever she was being moved on.

"So im to assume you're in charge Sergeant?" The temperature of the room dropped ten degrees in an instant and the man's voice began to gnaw at the back of her mind like she knew it.

"Y-Yes Sir." Clearly someone who rode coattails to get in that position. Her eyes finally uncovered she saw clearly that the man with the deep voice was towering over the small sergeant. The authority clear in the room, the nagging in her head grew in intensity as the man reminded her of someone from her past. Her hands went to her head and she shut her eyes .

As she clawed at her head, unbeknownst to anyone else, The taller man was admonishing the sergeant. Suddenly one of the other men was on her saying something. He was frantic and everyone suddenly had their attention on her. Before everything went black and she lost consciousness she saw the large man hovering over her screaming at her.

"GLYNDA!"

* * *

When Yang's eyes opened she saw bright blue eyes staring back at her. Her head was pounding and her eyes were puffy and sore, and several sore spots dotted her body.

"How're you feeling Yang?" Jaune asked with a voice of concern as he helped her into a sitting position.

"I'm good, I guess. Why're you still here, shouldn't you be heading back with your teammates?" Yang was still clutching her head trying to shake loose the fog away. A flash of silver went through her mind and her eyes shot open, the previous pain forgotten.

"Where is she?! Wheres Ruby?" She jumped up and looked around frantically, the only thing she was able to hear was the blood pounding in her ears and tears were forming in her eyes as she didn't catch a glimpse of who she was looking for. Her shoulders drooping and the clear disappointment etched on her face.

"Why the disappointment Yang, I'm not going anywhere." The soothing voice called to Yang, a pair of hands wrapped around her in a warm hug and rubbed up and down Yangs back.

The blonde brawler froze, comforted once again by her little sister. The same sister she had believed all these years to be dead by her own hand. That sister was here now, calming Yang down like nothing had happened between the two. The past ten years faded away in an instant for the older sister and she broke down crying.

Jaune was watching from a few feet away as the battle harden Yang broke down and reverted to the young girl from ten years ago. The same girl he fell in love with before all the crap that went down and ruined everything. The swordsman looked downcast and started remembering old times. Looking up at the two sisters he saw how much love they shared between them. The past few weeks since Yang's initial capture had been a headache to try and get this to happen.

"Shh, it's ok. I'm here for you Yang." Ruby's words seemed to make Yang's crying worse as she was wailing now and shaking violently. "Calm down Yang, Im not going anywhere anymore." Every word that Ruby spoke had Yang crying harder. Ten years of pent up rage and hate towards herself broke through the dam she had built up. After almost a half hour Yang petered out and the sounds of her wailing died out. Ruby kept her held tight and reassuring rub her back like a caring mother.

"Ruby, where have you been? Why come back now? Why make me suffer all these years thinking you were dead? I have so many questions!" Yang sounded horrible as her questions were choked out through sobs and snot, the sight was disgusting but this conversation needed to happen. Ruby ran her hands through her hair and started looking everywhere but at Yang.

"Yang, It was a rough time for all of us." Ruby tried dodging the question but Yang was buying it. Sitting there staring a hole through her younger sister, patiently waiting for an answer from her sister that was dead for ten years. Jaune stood back and watch the sisters have a long heartfelt conversation fueled by ten years of bad emotions.

"Ruby, what had happened. Why didn't you come back sooner? Why did you leave me to believe that I had killed you?" With every question the red haired reaper shrank down and tried to make herself part of the dirt.

"Yang, it wasn't that easy." Ruby was waving her hands around frantically as she tried to explain things as best she could.

"After what had happened I spent two years in an Atlas medical facility where they had their best scientists and doctors. Ironwood nearly bankrupted the Atlas military but I was finally able to move around unaided. The side effect was I had lost all of my memory."

This made Yang flinch and understandably avoided her sisters gaze. Regardless Ruby continued without even noticing.

"They tried everything they could, but nothing they did would work. My memories were gone but the training I had was still there physically so retraining me was easy. Being around the team and Jaune helped as well. Everyone was super supportive in helping me out." She stopped suddenly and grew a massive blush and looked at the ground, kicking the dirt.

This didn't go unnoticed by Yang, she might not have been around for the past ten years but she could still read she sister like an open book. Turning to Jaune to see if he had any idea what was going on she saw he had a massive blush of his own. The gears in her head clicking Yang felt her temper shaking its ugly head and she fought to keep it under control.

"Keep going, don't tell me it took you eight years to recover to this point. You're not that weak Ruby, so tell me," Yang turned to Jaune and Ruby's eyes grew to the size of saucers. "When did you get over me and go for my little sister Jaune." There was fire in her voice, her blood boiled and every instinct told her to beat this boys brains in for many reasons. But what Jaune caught was the hurt, the accusation of betrayal. "Why Jaune? Why Ruby? How long did it take for you to forget me?!" Yangs normally lilac eyes were now a blazing red and her hair shone with a radiant light.

"Is that what you think? Ruby woke up and I just got over you, let's not forget that it was YOU that ran away! You didn't even try to take responsibility you just up and left your team, your teachers and me! So don't you dare go accusing me of leaving you Yang Xiao Long! For ten long years I've held onto my feelings for you. It's true that Ruby and I grew to appreciate and eventually love each other." Jaune stopped for a breath and saw Yang was slack jawed at his harsh words. So be it, she needed to get out of this self-deluded state.

"Wake up Yang, nobody blames you for what happened. If you had stuck around for a few months you would have been cleared of everything, hell you were but no one could find you! You've always looked out for yourself with little regard to your team and they felt it this time. You left Blake in critical condition and Weiss is pissed. If you come back with us we can sort this whole thing out I promise." Technically the bit about Blake was a lie, she was fine but after all the hassle Yang had put them through Jaune was feeling a little petty and took advantage of an opening.

Yang had her head hung as she processed Jaunes words. The past ten years had all been a lie, Ruby was fine, her team didn't despise her for killing anyone, Ozpin wasn't looking for revenge for killing his silver eyed warrior, she had hurt both Jaune and Ruby by leaving like she did. What else had she done that had hurt her loved ones? Falling to her knees she curled her fingers into fists and repeatedly punched the ground, venting years of frustration on the uncaring and unmoving dirt. A dust cloud surrounded her after her tantrum and tears were falling from her lilac eyes, a pair of small hands wrapped themselves around Yang and she could feel the person shaking against her.

"Y-yang we're here for you. P-please come back, everybody m-misses you so so much." Ruby choked out between sobs that only served to add to Yangs sorrow.

"Ok Ruby, I'll go. I'm so sorry sis, I promise i'll never leave your side again." Turning in the red heads grip Yang returned a hug of her own and the sisters cried their eyes out for thirty minutes.

* * *

The trip back was long but far from boring. The two sisters spent the trip catching up and just chatting about nothing of consequence. Jaune was content to keep an eye out on their surroundings and smile at how happy they both looked, he knew it was a matter of time before he would have to face the light between those two. They'd probably corner him and put him on the spot about it, pretty much the only way they would get the solution they wanted the quickest possible way. He would have to make sure that didn't happen, in the meantime he let them be so they can enjoy this time together. It had been ten years in the making after all.

Little did Jaune know that the girls were conspiring against him in the exact fashion he had hoped to avoid.

"So, when we doing this?" The blonde fighter asked.

"I'd say don't give him a chance to run. The base is fairly large and he'll have plenty of space to hide once we're there. Get him as soon as we get in the loading bay before we go for debriefing, he'll never see it coming." The reaper said.

"Can I count on you?" Yang asked with a nervous look in her eye.

"Absolutely not, this is between you and Jaune. You two resolve your issues, I'll be on the sidelines cheering someone on." Ruby said with that innocent smile plastered on her face.

"Kinda guessed that, I did break crescent rose so you don't have a weapon." Yang looked like she was going down the dark path again so Ruby gave her a quick slap to her shoulder.

"Whoever said I didn't have a weapon. I just knew I didn't need it this time so I didn't bring it. You honestly think id go this long without a weapon of my own? What I just keep borrowing other people's?" At that Ruby outright laughed and drew the attention of the subject of conversation causing both girls to quiet down.

"Too close Rubes, so what kind of weapon do you have? I assume it to be a scythe of some kind, that was your go to archetype." Yang question but Ruby wouldn't budge.

"Not as easy as that, you get to see it just like everybody else did. You're going to have to spar with me." Ruby held a proud smile that spoke of years of confidence.

"Oh come on Ruby, that's not fair." Yang shook her head as Ruby gave her a questioning glance. "You've never been able to beat me so what makes you think you can now?" Yang placed a hand on her sister's shoulder only for it to be brushed off jas quick, shocking Yang.

"You have no idea how much i've trained the last ten years Yang. Lesson one, never underestimate your opponent." With those words they found themselves at the huge bay doors of an overgrown facility, Ruby walked to the side and punched in a code which gained them entry.

"What is this dump? It looks like it hasn't been used in years." Yang was clearly unimpressed and showed as much when she wiped her finger across some moss that wouldn't move. She was about to say something else when Ruby yelled out over her shoulder.

"Rule number one Yang." The tiny woman disappearing into the building.

Yang wasn't convinced, making her way into the building she saw an unkempt dirty garage with shiny new bikes lined up on the wall. Rolling eyes she couldn't believe how careless that was; Dirty abandoned looking garage, state-of-the-art motorcycles on the wall ready at a moments notice. Continuing through the only door available Yang's jaw hit the floor. The hallway was presitine and neatly cared for in every possible way, there were a series of doors on either side suggesting offices of some kind. She continued down and reached a stairwell where Ruby was waiting.

"What do you want to do first? The grand tour, which will lead to Ironwood and Ozpin both of whom have about ten years worth of questions for you, or Jaune?" The diminutive girl crossed her arms and waited for Yang to process everything she was looking at.

Yang was at a loss for words. Everything was top of the line, she was pretty sure some of the equipment she saw wasn't even on the line yet. Doing multiple turns to marvel at everything she was seeing Ruby waited patiently for her to finish. Finally Yang stopped gawking at everything and her face gained a serious expression.

"I want Jaune, now."

 **A/N: Chapter is going up a little earlier than expected because mistakes were made and to anyone who wants to be patrons I never gave direction to. I also feel bad about the long absence from this story so here is me apologizing. I hope you all enjoy reading and please review even if it is just to say thank you, they mean more than you can possibly imagine. Posts for future stories will be available on first to both tiers for a month before publish on public sites such as this so don't worry the stories aren't abandoned! The stories that will be updated free of charge are this and any one shot compilations we make. Till next time, stay good everyone!**

 **: /jlfire4229**


	4. The Ghosts Of The Past Ch 4

The Ghosts Of The Past  
Chapter 4

She opened her eyes to a cold and sterile room, attempting to move her hands she wasn't bound by anything for once and tested out her strength by flexing her fingers a few times. After ensuring that she had full function of her arms she decided to try sitting up, this was a mistake however when the world started spinning and she found herself right back on the table. Pinching the bridge of her nose she felt a headache coming on and made the decision to rest a bit, closer her eyes again she drifted off into a peaceful sleep just as the door opened.

James and Ozpin both walked into the room with stone faced expressions on. After the last mishap that ended with Glynda passing out after crying out in pain they were both understandably worried about her and pissed at her treatment.

"James, I know you said you didn't order the actions that led to her being restrained like before, if that is the case then who did?" Ozpin carefully looked over his former subordinate as James pondered the question.

The general scratched his stubble thoughtfully as his mind raced with the possibilities of culprits. He thought he had trusted people in place to handle the situation but it seemed as though he would have to do some reevaluation of his staff.

"I don't have the answer yet Oz, give me a week and I'll have a list of names of people we can trust. In the meantime she stays in a location that only the two of us know about, agreed?" Looking at his old friend with curiosity in his eye he waited for what seemed like forever.

"Yes, let us hope that we can find a solution before things get out of hand. I feel a terrible presence preparing to make its move soon." Ozpin was as cryptic as ever but he was rarely, if ever, wrong.

As the pair closed the door and made sure it was secure the mysterious figure in the shadows watched them slowly make their way down the hall. After they left the figure watched for another ten minutes, when no one was passing by and no guards showed up the figured made its move. Taking a careful look at the door it was heavily reinforced, no normal lockpicking would do for this. With no guards here either it would just take someone curious and skilled enough to get in the room, that couldn't be allowed to happen. They'd make sure of it.

((linebreak))

Fist met shield in a clash that sent a high pitched squeal through the room and a shiver down the spectators spines. The energy in the room could almost be seen as Yang Xiao Long, the blonde berserker, fought against the second in command and resident healer of the HSP squad, Jaune Arc. The fight had been going on for no more than ten minutes but with each blow the two traded the excitement grew in the room. They both took a moment to breath, their shoulders raising and falling with the exertion of the fight.

"Damn you've gotten good Jaune, just how have you been practicing against?" Yang got out between pants for air, her arms felt heavy even after such a short battle. She really was out of practice, or Jaune was just that good now.

"Oh you know, Weiss, Blake, Nora, Ren, Cardin, Ruby, Pyrrha. I've learned alot from each of them, never have won though. I'm hoping that this marks a victory, you're pretty out of practice if I stand a chance."

Weiss sneezed three times fast.

Jaune smirked as Yang was getting flustered. While she was distracted Jaune made his move, moving his sword so that it was facing behind him he raised his shield to block Yang's vision of his movements. Jaune charged at his fellow blonde while keeping low to the ground and bashed Yang with his shield then followed up with a strike to her temple with the pommel of his sword. Seeing the flash of yellow that was Yang's aura gave a boost to Jaunes resolve.

Yang's vision was blurry after the well placed strike by Jaune. Knowing that he would be pressing his advantage after that, Jaune's next strike with Crocea Mors was blocked with the remaining gauntlet of Ember Celica. She got in closer under Jaune's guard as she slid down the length of the blade, seeing his eyes go wide at her proximity she cocked her right hand back and landed a solid blow to Jaune's unguarded stomach. His aura flashed a brilliant white and Yang backpedaled to gain some breathing room.

"Well well, looks like we're both at one hit till we're done huh?" Yang was rubbing the stump where flesh met metal to work out the soreness.

Jaune seemed to give up as he folded his shield and secured it on his belt, gripping his sword with both hands he spaced out his stance and just stopped. Yang stopped talking and looked carefully , he looked ready to spring into action but he didn't move. Yangs raised her fists, her pain forgotten, sizing up her opponent. She never saw Jaune like this, she was in uncharted territory from here on.

Ruby watched carefully, studying both Yang and Jaune. Yang still fought the same way, rough and all out, not really considering strengths and weaknesses. Just charging in head first and trying to overpower her opponent. Jaune was much more refined from his Beacon days, always searching for that one slip up from his opponent, luring them in through baiting then finishing them in a decisive blow. At least that's what it had looked like, Yang was no ordinary opponent she was Jaunes former lover and he still had feelings for her clearly. He made critical mistakes and now they were both one shot from finishing the fight and ending up in the infirmary. Shaking her head Ruby turned to leave, one or both of those fools would end up in her care anyhow so she went to go prep the medical beds for the idiots.

((linebreak))

A warrior with flaming red hair was making her way down the hall, her weapon securely on her back and her stride suggested she had places to be. She always walked with a purpose such was her training from a young age. She wore a red hoodie with gold trim around the edges, following the color scheme of her hoodie her sweat pants were a red and gold and she finished off the outfit with red tennis shoes. She normally caught flak for how much red wore but today the base was empty, not seeing a single person in the otherwise crowded base was eerie. Her stomach growled making her stop in her tracks and place a hand over her stomach. Looking around to get her bearings she started in the direction of the cafeteria.

After she turned the corner she spy her destination at the end of he hallway. Making good time she slowed down and wore a smirk on her face. Passing by a doorway they came a flood of sound that made her pause, taking a look inside she could see what looked like a crowd formed around something. Using her elbows to cut a path in the crowd she finally got to the middle only to catch the remnants of an explosion directly in her face. Now normally she was calm and cool, always thinking situations through, the voice of reason for anyone who asked for advice.

This was not the case when anyone messed with her face.

Much like Yang's hair back in the days of beacon Pyrrha's face was a thing of pride. She took extra special care to ensure she looked presentable to anyone at any given time of day or night. For someone to have the gall to cause an explosion to wipe away her makeup, darken her face with soot and gunpowder, and decorate her natural flaming red hair with the black of the aforementioned gunpowder. She was not the pleasant sparring partner that most people knew.

((linebreak))

Yang had fucked up, that was the nicest way to phrase the series of events leading up to Ruby taking care of her sister in the hospital. Pyrrha was normally a calm and controlled fighter, always stopping herself before going to far and beating her opponent senseless. That's where Yang came in.

*Yangs flashback*

 _Yang could see this was her last shot, her aura was low and her right arm was killing her. Jaune came in for a lunge at her right side, the side he knew was he_ r _weak spot. Leaving the opening for him she let it get a bit to close but it passed without scratching her side. She twisted herself around and landed a vicious left elbow on his shield and prepared to follow with a right hook since he was open from the block. Jaune saw this and ducked under her fist as Yang let a round from the built in shotgun in her arm go off directly into the crowd. Both fighters looked at the occupation of the sace and the first thing they saw was bright red hair. Then bright green eyes flashed and everything went black for the two fighters._

*End of flashback*

Ruby got up and tended to her two newest patients, Pyrrha standing over her shoulder apologizing profusely.

"I am so so sorry Ruby." The champion kneaded her hands frantically over the unconscious forms of two of her friends as her mind raced a million miles a minute trying to think of ways to make it up to them.

"It's fine Pyr, I promise, this is my job. Besides it's the only company I really get anymore." Ruby casually slide over to her desk as the small jab processed in the champion's mind.

Pyrrha stopped all of her fidgeting at that comment. She knew Ruby hadn't meant the words to hurt but they nevertheless did. Her mind turned sluggish as she tried to come up with reasonable excuses, as quickly as she thought them up she shot them down. Balling her hands into fists she turned around and started her apology to the smaller woman but was cut off by a cup and an overwhelmingly pleasant scent.

"I told you, it's fine. I'm honestly ok with being lonely considering my job here. If i had more work to do it would mean that you all were taking too many risks and getting hurt. I couldn't stand for that at all. So you stay nice and healthy ok?" Ruby's steel eyes had shadows of a time long past or premonitions of the future, which they were couldn't be told but Pyrrha would do her best to keep everyone safe.

"Pyr."

Her emerald eyes glowed with a renewed determination to get back to the missions.

"Pyrrha?"

Clenching her fists over her chest and gritting her teeth one could almost see fire in her eyes. That might have been what worried the reaper.

"Pyrrha!" Ruby shouted loud enough to wake the dead but barely loud enough to snap the amazon out of her stupor.

"Yes, Ruby?" Saying nonchalantly like nothing was wrong.

"Your coffee?" The smaller redhead stared at her counterpart with a worried look and holding the coffee before her as if it were a shield against the spartan like woman.

Smiling Pyrrha took the cup delightfully and beamed at the kind younger woman. "Thank you Ruby!" Taking a small sip of the brown liquid she hummed contently to herself. "So good! You always make the best coffee, better than Ozpin ever made."

On the other side of the base where the former professor and his old friend were playing chess, Ozpin suddenly sneezed and knocked the whole playing board over much to the displeasure of one James Ironwood who was about to win for once.

"Hey, you got anymore of the smelly good stuff Rubes?"

Ruby looked past her guest as the familiar voice of her older sister filtered through to her ears. Pyrrha saw hat the blonde fighter was awake, alibet half-way, and decided then was as good a time as any to make her exit.

"Pyrrha, Don't think you're going to get away with putting me in the hospital without payback." Yang gave a small smirk as Ruby handed her the coffee. Not to be outdone however, Pyrrha had her own retort.

"To be fair, you shot my hair into an unrecognizable mess. I'd say we're even and nothing more needs to be done, however if you would like a rematch I'm more than willing to take you up on that." Turning her head to look at Yang over her shoulder with a malicious grin and fire in her eyes that made the brawlers spine tingle with the hint of a good fight again.

"Just say when Pyrrha, I'll take you anytime." She raised her fist towards her companion and Pyrrha responded by bumping her fist against Yangs and walking away, satisfied with the promise of a good fight.

Jaune chose this moment to make his presence *consciousness* known.

"So, can I sideline watch?"

Ruby calmly walked up to him and smacked the back of his head with her free hand then shoved the cup of coffee in his face.

"Bad timing, worse response Jaune. Next time just keep quiet."

Jaune took the advice and sipped his coffee as Yang stared him down at his comment.

"No, just for that comment you can fight the winner." Yang said smugly as she expected Jaune to act like how she knew him, however she got a shock with his response.

"It's gonna be Pyrrha, that woman always gets what she wants." He mumbled into his cup but both of the women in the room heard what had been said and both had wildly different reactions.

Ruby paled and disappeared from view only to poke her head up behind her desk to watch what was about to unfold. She knew from experience that Yang had always had and always would have a short fuse that would make firecracker flint look like trail of dynamite.

Yang, up until a moment ago, had a smug grin on her face. After Jaunes snide comment a vicious tick made itself apparent just above her right eye. Her fingers tightened to the point her nails almost broke the skin on her biceps, the temperature of the room started to swell much to the displeasure of her sister while Jaune was never the wiser.

Jaune tugged at the collar of his hospital gown in an attempt to fan himself but failed miserably. Looking around he failed to notice Ruby cowering behind her desk and couldn't spot Yang anywhere. Suddenly a chill slowly made its way up his spine and a towering shadow encompassed him, the waves of dark energies and killing intent made themselves more than apparent to every being in the room.

As Pyrrha was walking away she was smiling happily at the prospect of the fight Yang had promised. She took another sip of the brilliantly made coffee Ruby had made for her and shivered delightfully as the warm liquid made her feel back home in Mistral some twenty years ago. As she rounded the corner she ran into none other than the former professor Ozpin.

"Ah, sorry sir I didn't realize you were right there." Pyrrha barely managed to keep from spilling the god given liquid that not even the greatest of baristas could make.

"No worries Miss Nikos, Nothing was spilled and no clothes ruined so I think it's safe to say that….." His sentence was cut short as he inhaled the aroma drifting from the cup in the young woman's hands.

"T-that wouldn't happen to be a cup of Miss Rose's coffee would it?" He stared at the cup with a look of the purest desire in his eyes.

"Why yes, Ruby just made some. If you hurry the pot should still be the.." All of a sudden an ear splitting squeal erupted all around them and startled Pyrrha enough where she dropped her cup and ran back in the direction she just came from. Ozpin looked sadden for a moment at the loss of perfect coffee but quickly followed behind Pyrrha.

As the crimson haired spartan threw open the doors to the hospital wing she gasped as she saw the sight before her. Jaune was crying out in pain as his leg was bent in a direction that it clearly shouldn't and his elbow was pinned directly behind his neck, which looked absurdly painful. Yang was on top of him digging her knee into the middle of his back and the harder she pressed the more Jaune screamed.

"Say it! SAY IT!"

"Fine, fine YOU'RE THE BEST!"

"I DON'T THINK THE PEOPLE IN MENAGERIE HEARD YOU!"

"THE COFFEE!" Everyone had stopped and the room grew eerily quiet as Ozpin could be seen crying as he held the broken coffee pot.

 **A/N: Not much to say this time however I am planning on a** **Christmas** **release for chapter 5 and as my bro/testing platform for ideas tries to kill me I sadly have to go offline for a while to catch up with everything I've been slacking on. I wish everyone a good rest of the year and happy holiday season and all that. any words from reviewers are still greatly** **appreciated** **as I write these stories for you all and they develop** **according** **to you. Something to bear in mind, also Blaiseingfire and myself are still publishing works but they are on our first then released a month later.**

/kcfire4229


	5. Chapter 5

The Ghosts Of The Past

Chapter 5

 _As she struggled into a sitting position, her broken bones grated against each other, cause pain to make itself aware to her in the most brutal manner._

 _Leaning back she could barely open her right eye and tears swam in her vision to block out the appearance of her attacker._

 _*click* *click*_

 _The resounding heel clicks echoed against the floor as the mysterious person drew closer. Fear building in her mind as soft and smooth fingers curled and bunched her shirt into the fist. Lifting her up she cried out at the unimaginable pain from her broken extremities._

 _"So you claim to be the best, but here you are. The invincible girl. Broken, beaten, and all alone. How sad that you don't even have one single friend to save you from your death."_

 _The smell of burnt wood permeated the air as the building around them was crumbling. Feeling her attacker shift she fell to the ground and fresh tears burst into her eyes._

 _"I would deal the final blow, but that would send your 'friends' after me wouldn't it? If I leave you here to die in a fire though? I'll remain in the shadows free to kill the rest of your friends at my leisure. Goodbye Miss Pyrrha Nikos."_

 _The wall burst open and a lone figure stood in the improvised doorway. A gleam came from a long tempered blade being held by a knight with blonde hair and a death look in his eyes. In a feat of agility that was physically impossible, he jumped into the air and twisted while spinning incredibly fast to finish with a downward thrust straight into the head of her opponent. He was balanced perfectly on his sword and slowly let himself down and walked over to her._

" _It's time Pyrrha."_

 _Those simple words brought a wave of relief over her as she tried, and failed, to raise her arms. When she did try, her broken bones grated against each other and caused pain to blossom across her body and she fell over from the chain of areas that were in pain. Jaune rushed over to her and supported her as he sat her up and looked into her swollen eyes with a tender, almost caring, look in his eyes. She slacked into his grip as he placed a hand on her shoulder and suddenly cold steel bit into her stomach as she went wide-eyed at the man she had loved her whole life._

 _Looking down she saw Crocea Mors making a new home from her insides, pain was nonexistent but Jaunes cheerful smile was still plastered on his face._

Pyrrha's eyes slammed open . She looked around the darkness and tried to calm her ragged breathing. After ten seconds of observation she closed her eyes and placed her arm over her eyes and cried. The tears stung and her heart could barely handle the nightmare anymore. It had be persistent for the last five or so years. Ozpin was trying his best to help her through these circumstances but it wasn't helping as much as she let on, rolling onto her side she tried to recapture that elusive enemy known by many as the sandman.

 _ **Other side of the base**_

Ruby walked through he eerily quiet halls of the base while fighting off the man Pyrrha was spending her time trying to find. Checking either side of the hall nothing gave any clues that there was anything out of the ordinary going on that night.

"...ow are you feeling tonight Miss Xiao-long?"

Ruby's ears perked up at the mention of Yang's name. She was naturally curious but wary of eavesdropping thanks to the extensive surgery she went through. Just like Yang's arm or Jaune's legs, Ruby had many metallic ribs in place of real ones. A constant reminder of that fateful night over ten years ago, she didn't regret it until a stealth mission became available. If her heart rate got too high then the enemy could literally hear her as the rush of blood through her heart could ping against the metal in her ribcage.

"It's late, I should probably try to get some shut-eye Prof….Ozpin. Thank you for hearing me out at such a late hour."

Ruby hung her head in defeat, because of her daydreaming she missed out on what was said. Another reason she never did stealth missions.

"Ruby?! What are you doing down there?" Yang's eyes were wide as half dollars and sweat started to form on her brow.

"Uh...well you know. Just….inspecting the baseboards. Gotta make sure they're installed properly." Of course in Ruby's mind this was a genius comeback in the two seconds she thought of it. To everyone else….well they knew better.

"Miss Rose, they are no baseboards in the building," Ozpin stated blandly as he sipped his….coffee? Where did he always get his coffee? Ruby hid every packet of coffee in the building!

"Your first mistake was thinking that I am drinking coffee so late. Honestly, that would just keep me up for hours." Ozpin smirked at the duo as he shut the door to his office.

Yang's jaw had dropped at the implication of what was in the coffee mug while Ruby, as innocent as ever, was clueless and scratching her head.

"Yang, what else is Ozpin drinking in a coffee mug?" She asked her older sister in the hopes that she liked the answer. Yang's head turned so quickly bones sounded like whips as they cracked at the strain of the movement.

"You're serious?" The blonde brawler gave her younger sister the sternest look she could muster without betraying how amused she felt at all this.

"W-wait? N-noooooo of course I know. Jeez Yang, I'm not dumb!" Ruby quickly picked herself up off the ground and nervously laughed while walking back down the hallway.

"Fuck, what am I going to do with that girl, doesn't even know wh.."

"Doesn't know what miss Xiao-Long?" A light voice with a strong authority behind it shocked Yang into a standstill. It was a voice that hadn't been heard in over ten years. A familiar sense of dread slowly crept its way up Yang's spine and made a shelter at the base of her neck followed quickly by a burning sensation as she felt two dull green eyes burrow into her skull.

Yang spun around fast enough to make Weiss using her speed glyph seem slow. Scanning the area, she saw no one.

'I knew someone was here, I'm not losing my mind that much.' If she remembered correctly Ruby said his room was always opposite Ozpin's ever since an argument about two weeks ago. According to her sister that had been a nightmare to set up as well as handle her little jaunt through the local town.  
 _  
With Ruby_

The redhead was nearly skipping down the halls with her eyes closed and humming to herself a merry tune. Unfortunately, nothing good happens in the dead of night as Ruby ended up slamming right into her fellow redhead Pyrrha Nikos. Looking up while rubbing her head she saw the condition her friend was in and rushed over to her.

"Pyrrha, are you ok?! I didn't see you there!"

The amazon didn't respond as her eyes were unfocused and glazed over. She picked herself up off the ground and continued down the hall.

"Pyrrha where are you going?" Ruby whispered to herself as she stalked after the sleepwalking woman.

* * *

 _Smooth walls ran as far as it could see. Rhythmic clicks sounded every few moments, but the gaze was firmly held forward. This pattern was set, every night at the same time, down the same path towards the mysterious closed portal. The other creatures that blocked the way in were absent. A pale hand moved forward and contacted the portal. A strange sensation overtook the sense for a brief moment before a joint was forcefully slammed into the obstruction repeatedly before a red haired creature filled the entire view as everything went black._

 _ **A/N: Shorter than I normally write and late as I wanted this for yesterday but I hope you all enjoy! Merry Christmas, happy holidays and all the other stuff and I hope everyone had an amazing day in general. Shout out to Blaiseingfire for being a bro and betaing this short little shit and being there as a good person. Please read and review as it help me determine what you all like!**  
_


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